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The Great Ones turned to the right, crouched, and arrayed themselves in an attack formation. Glad to be behind the group, Adam leaned sideways to catch a glimpse of the threat.
Is that ... Kailyn? Sure enough—the same little girl he had spoken with at the creek sat cross-legged under a tree. She seemed not to notice the Great Ones as she played with toys made of old, splintered wood.
A gust of wind nearly knocked Adam over. Trees bent under the force of the gale, and the girl stood up.
Then the giants—all except Alexander—changed. Doctor Jensen morphed into a massive grizzly bear. Two others became mountain lions, and the rest, wild boars. Alexander, still a man, nudged Adam backward and then stepped in front of him.
The smells of the beasts and the cacophony of growls and grunts assured Adam this was not a hallucination. Wanting to run but frozen in place, Adam reached up and grasped Alexander’s shirt, keeping the giant between him and the snarling creatures, who had now formed a half-circle around Kailyn.
Adam knew he should do something. What kind of coward would stand by as wild animals mauled a helpless child? But he couldn’t have resisted this group when they were human. How could he fight ferocious beasts?
Alexander backed away, averting his face. Adam moved with him.
Without warning, the mountain lions charged Kailyn. In an instant, the smaller and quicker of the two had its jaws around her neck. The other bit into her right leg. She was about to be ripped to pieces and Adam was powerless to help. I can’t watch this.
Just as he turned away, blood-curdling screams pierced the air. But they were not a child’s screams. It was one of the mountain lions.
Adam snapped back toward Kailyn. She had slashed the creature’s throat. The wooden toy, now a double-sided metal dagger, dripped with blood.
The second cougar lunged with unnatural swiftness and strength. Still, Kailyn parried the cat’s every movement with speed, precision, and skill unlike anything Adam had ever seen.
The blade sliced through the air in a blur—a blur of colors that reminded Adam of the ones he’d seen rise from the cottage.
Both lions limped away, trailing blood.
Then with a deafening roar, the bear charged from behind, hitting Kailyn with such force the dagger flew from her hands. The beast pinned her to the ground with its paw.
Without her dagger, Kailyn appeared helpless—like a normal child. She struggled but could hardly move.
The bear roared again, inches from Kailyn’s face, as if trying to frighten her to death before devouring her.
Two other children, a girl and a boy with a patch over his eye, came running from the trees. The girl, perhaps a year or two younger than Kailyn, held a dagger of her own and waved it at the other animals. They backed off but kept snarling as they encircled her.
Kailyn ceased her hopeless struggle. Her eyes showed discouraged resignation to her fate.
The boy took up another of Kailyn’s toys—a small, wooden hammer—and placed it in her hand while dodging the bear’s deadly swipes. But she didn’t close her hand around the hammer. When the boy let go, it dropped to the ground.
The bear’s jaws slammed closed like a guillotine, but the boy was too quick for the beast and once again managed to place the hammer in Kailyn’s hand. This time he pressed it into her palm, forcing her fingers around the handle and shouting, “Take it!”
Finally, she gripped the splintered handle.
Still pinned, she could only swing the hammer a few inches, but the tap sent the bear tumbling. The hulking creature slammed into a tree trunk with the crunch of breaking bones.
The bear lay still.
Alexander and the rest of the beasts took off running. They vanished into the forest to the north. Moments later, the bear came to and staggered into the trees.
Kailyn hugged the boy, then the girl. The strain in her arms and the tearful exchange moved Adam. He had seen plenty of hugs, but none like that one. It was the sort of affection he had always imagined he would have with his siblings if he ever found his way home.
Kailyn turned and started toward Adam, no longer a child. She was a woman, tall and athletic with long, midnight black hair—the same shiny black hair he had seen at the creek when they first met. She also retained the same serious look and confident strength in her movements as when she appeared as a child.
The two friends were also now adults, and the woman, shorter than Kailyn, met Adam’s eyes with a sweet, shy smile that moved him to his core. For an extended moment, he forgot to remove his eyes from hers. When he realized he was staring, he ordered his eyes to avert, but they rebelled.
The man with the eye patch stepped to the woman’s side and wrapped his arm around her. Her smile broadened and she laid her blond head on the man’s shoulder.
Adam’s emotions surprised him. Never had he felt jealousy for a woman he just met. But he couldn’t deny the sense of loss that now stung him. I guess she’s spoken for.
The man presented an aura of gentleness, but the patch on his eye and the ordeal with the bear gave Adam the sense that this man was not one to trifle with.
Adam hadn’t been this bewildered since the pond. Giants becoming animals, children becoming adults, and a battle won with little wooden toys? Could something out here be causing hallucinations—perhaps the blue substance that appeared on his skin when the wind first blew?
“Are you okay?” Kailyn asked.
Adam only blinked.
Kailyn smiled. “I want you to meet my friends, Watson and Abigail. When I told them I was coming to help you, they offered to come along. And it’s a good thing they did. For a moment there I lost my grip on the cottage pieces. Without their help, you and I both would have been in trouble.”
“Cottage pieces? Do you mean the toys you were playing with?”
“I assure you they are anything but toys. They are pieces of the cottage. They have power beyond anything you can imagine. I carry them everywhere.”
“May I see them?”
“Of course.” Kailyn laid them out on a stone as if she were setting out dazzling, priceless jewels. But Adam saw only old, splintered pieces of wood.
Kailyn frowned. “What do you see, Adam?”
“Honestly?” He picked up a piece, flipped it over, then set it down. “They just look like ... toys.”
Their obvious displeasure at his answer made him regret the flippant response. These “toys” had just been used with deadly force.
“I take it you’re from the high country?” Adam said.
“Indeed,” Watson replied.
Adam glanced down at the cottage pieces. “Is war coming?”
“War has persisted between the high country and lowlands for centuries,” Watson said. “It is a war your previous companions will soon lose, just as they lost today’s battle. As for you, you must return with us at once.” He picked up the hammer Kailyn had used on the bear. “If you wish to live, do not resist.”
Snapshots of the mutilated bodies at the tree line flashed in Adam’s mind and he involuntarily touched his chest. He was alone with three armed mountain people who had just sliced wild animals to ribbons. He took a step back. “Am I being taken captive?”
Kailyn and Abigail circled behind Adam, and Watson stepped closer. “Why are you touching your chest, Adam?” Watson asked. “Did you see the bodies?”
Adam struggled to breathe. “Was it you who ... were those people trying to escape? Or ...?”
A strong hand from behind seized his arm.